A method of transporting recreational equipment is to mount the recreational equipment on a type of carrier system attached to a vehicle. One type of carrier system may be attached to the top of the vehicle, and accordingly, may be known as a roof rack style system, or more commonly, a roof rack. In order to facilitate mounting of the recreational equipment onto the roof rack, the roof rack may comprise of two bars that are placed perpendicular to the length of the vehicle along the top. One of the bars is placed towards the front of the vehicle and the other is placed towards the back. The bars may be attached to the vehicle by towers that attach to the vehicle while holding the bars. The roof rack style system facilitates mounting and transporting various recreational equipment.
For example, where the sports equipment may be a bicycle, the two bars of the roof rack may be utilized to place a bicycle component, such as, for example, a bicycle tray, between the two bars. Commonly, the bicycle tray holds the bicycle in place, which in turn, facilitates mounting of the bicycle onto the roof rack. For example, where the recreational equipment may be a pair of skis, the two bars of the roof rack may each have a ski carrier component, through which, skis may be held in place. Accordingly, utilizing the roof rack style system facilitates transportation of various recreational equipment, including storage carriers that may transport various types of cargo. Additionally, combinations of various recreational equipment may be transported on the roof rack style system at one time (i.e., bicycle, skis, and a canoe may all be transported at once utilizing various components). However, having a carrier system on top of a vehicle has several disadvantages.
One disadvantage of a carrier system on top of a vehicle is that mounting recreational equipment on the roof of a vehicle may be difficult because of its location on top of the vehicle. For example, placing one or more bicycles on top of the roof of a vehicle may be awkward and difficult because of a bicycle's weight, size, and/or shape. Additionally, if the vehicle's roof is high off the ground, mounting recreational equipment onto the carrier may be difficult because of the height the recreational equipment is required to be lifted. For example, some larger vehicles, commonly known as sport utility vehicles, trucks, and vans, have roofs that are high off the ground making mounting recreational equipment onto the carrier difficult.
Another disadvantage of transporting recreational equipment on roof rack style systems is that the recreational equipment may extend above the vehicle increasing the vehicle's clearance. For example, a vehicle having a recreational equipment such as a bicycle may not be able to drive into many car ports, garages, and the like because of the risk of damage to buildings, recreational equipment, and/or the vehicle. Additionally, transporting recreational equipment on roof rack style systems reduces aerodynamics of the vehicle by increasing drag, which in turn, may decrease fuel efficiency.
Another type of carrier system that attaches to a vehicle may be a rear attached carrier system. The rear attached carrier system may be attached to the vehicle by coupling the carrier system with a trailer hitch, and accordingly, may be known as a hitch mounted style system. The hitch mounted style system couples to the receiver of the hitch, and a vertical post having a clamping style system extends behind the vehicle. For example, where the sports equipment may be a bicycle, the bicycle's top tube is clamped by the carrier system resulting in the bicycle being positioned perpendicular to the length of the vehicle. The hitch mounted style systems are lower to the ground, which in turn, makes it easier to mount recreational equipment. However, these hitch mounted style systems have several disadvantages.
One disadvantage of hitch mounted style carrier systems is that, for the example of bicycles, if more than one bicycle is to be transported, the bicycles are required to be “nested”. That is, a first bicycle is required to be placed on a clamping system closest to the rear of the vehicle, and subsequent bicycles are required to be placed parallel to the first bicycle in layers extending away from the rear of the vehicle. Because the bicycles are nested, often times, removing a bicycle closest to the rear of the vehicle requires the removal of the other bicycles on the carrier system. Having the bicycles clamped on the top tube in the nested fashion allows the bicycles to rotate about the top tube and shift during travel, which in turn, may cause damage to adjacent bicycles. Additionally, a larger number of modem bicycles are designed with suspension systems, and as a result, lack the required top tubes to facilitate mounting.
Another disadvantage of hitch mounted style carrier system is that access to the rear compartment of the vehicle is restricted because the carrier systems extend vertically close to the rear doors of the vehicle. Even though some hitch mounted style carrier systems facilitate pivoting away from the rear door of the vehicle to provide access, because the manner in which the bicycles are mounted on the hitch, as previously described, moving the hitch mounted style carrier systems around is difficult. Additionally, hitch mounted style carrier systems do not facilitate versatility in mounting various recreational equipment utilizing various components or combinations thereof.
Thus, a recreational equipment carrier that addresses at least some of the above disadvantages of systems is desired.